Kitchen

Designer kitchens tend to be expensive; that much is true. They are costly because the designer and firm need to get paid (how else can they live?). They are costly because they tend to be big (dollhouse designer kitchen anyone?). And finally, they are costly because they use top-notch appliances and high-quality materials (not a lot of sheet vinyl flooring here).

But how does this translate to your home? Two things:

Place Your Needs First: The primary tenet of kitchen designers is, “Design around the client’s needs.” Are you searching your kitchen soul to determine what you really need? If not, why not? It’s all too simple to copy a fashionable trend and paste it onto your own kitchen. But is it doing anything for you?

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Adopt proven design strategies from professionals with years, even decades, of experience in the field. Sure, it’s a high-wire act to balance your personal needs with proven designs, but you can do it. We’ll help.

All designs in this photo set come from Sabine H. Schoenberg, founder of Sabine’s Home (link below), interior designer for more than 15 years, and author of Kitchen Magic: Secrets to Successful Kitchens.

About this photo, Sabine says that she designed this kitchen with a super-sized kitchen island (5 feet by 9 feet), so that “all the grandchildren could be gathered around one single counter to make cookies during raining beach days.”